Binding for water skis



Jan. 5, 1960 A. M. KLUGE BINDING FOR WATER SKIS 2 Sheet's -Sheet 1 Filed May 15, 1958 INVENTOR ANTHONY M. KLUGE ATTORNEY Jan. 5, 1960" Filed May 15, 1958 FIG. 8.

A. M. KLUGE BINDING FOR WATER SKIS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ANTHONY M. KLUGE ATTO RNEY United States Patent 2,919,452 Patented Jan. 1960 BINDING FOR WATER SKIS Anthony M. Kluge, Rego Park, N.Y.

Application May 15, 1958, Serial No. 735,467

7 Claims. (Cl. 9-310) The present invention relates to a binding for water skis and in particular to such a binding which permits easy adjustment thereof for any foot length.

The present invention is a continuation-in-part of the cope-nding patent application Serial No. 482,034, filed January 17, 1955, now abandoned.

It is well known that water ski bindings must be designed in such a manner that the feet of the user of the water skis may readily be inserted and easily be with drawn therefrom, but at the same time it is necessary that the water skis are held securely to the feet of the user while the skis are used. It is, therefore, of great importance that the bindings may be adapted to any foot length in order to provide a proper fitting of the binding in accordance with the size of the foot of the user.

Several proposals have been made before for adjustment of the bindings of water skis and some require a change in the position of the counter. In many instances such changes could not be brought about without using special tools and some bindings were also equipped with parts as screw nuts or bolts which amounted to a potential danger for the user of the skis and even brought about injuries to the user of the skis. It was observed that particularly the counter which receives the heel of the foot assumed an angular position relative to the longitudinal direction of the ski board, whereupon the user lost control over the skis.

Further proposals have been made to overcome these drawbacks without, however, bringing about the beneficial results aimed at by the present invention. This further structure as disclosed in Patent No. 2,740,972, dated April 10, 1956, comprises a main plate or foot plate which isof less width than the ski and extends longitudinally thereon. Mounted rearw-ardly onthe foot plate is ayheel plate and the rearward end portion of the foot plate as well as of the heel plate is providedwith registering slots, respectively. A bolt passes through the ski and through both slots and a knurled nut is screwed down on said bolt to clamp both the foot plate and the heel plate relative to the ski. Due to the limited number of adjusting positions inherent in this known structure it was not possible to arrive at a proper fitting position of the binding for the size of the foot of the user which was detrimental to the proper operation of the water ski.

It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a ski binding which permits of an infinite number of adjusting positions for the heel plate and at the same time provides easy adjustment of such binding to any foot size, as well as easy removal of the foot from the binding and additionally also provides a three-point support for the counter of the binding, thereby preventing thatthe counter assumes an inclined position relative to the longitudinal axis of the ski board.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a ski binding, the counter of which is of such a structure that the lifting of a nut by manual operation with out using any tool permits the adjustment of the counter to an infinite number of positions spaced apart longitudinally on said ski.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a binding for water skis which comprises a supporting member of a length to support the counter as well as the vamp and secured to the ski board merely by two screws or the like and wherein the counter and the vamp are mounted on such supporting member, instead of directly to the ski. By this arrangement merely the loosening of the two securing screws for the supporting member permits of easy transfer of the entire binding including the counter and the vamp in a single step.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a binding for water skis in which the heel plate, mounted on the ski board directly or on a supporting member, is of flexible material, as for instance a particular steel alloy, an aluminum alloy, proper plastic material or any other suitable material, as long as such material permits of flexing of the front portion of the heel plate from its foundation upon exertion of pressure on the counter by the heel of the user, whereby upon release of such pressure the front portion of the heel plate returns to its original foundation engaging position. It is an essential part of this object to provide a vertical clearance, greater than normal sliding clearance, between the lateral edges of the front portion of the heel plate and lateral guide means engaging said lateral edges of the front plate, so that such flexing and lifting movement of the front portion of the heel plate brings about an increase in friction between the rear portion of the heel plate and the top face of the foundation, on the one hand, and the top face of the heel plate and the bottom face of the knurled nut, on the other hand.

With these and other objects in view which will be come apparent in the following detailed description, the present invention will be clearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the water ski having a binding mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a water ski showing the binding mounted thereon;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of the water ski with the binding mounted thereon in operative or using position, indicating the slightly lifted position of the front portion of the heel plate;

Fig. 4 is a section along the lines 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a section along the lines 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a section similar to that of Fig. 4, showing, however, a sunken screw bolt head;

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the heel plate used in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the water ski having a second embodiment of the binding mounted thereon;

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a water ski showing said second embodiment of the binding;

Fig. 10' is a top plan view of the heel plate used in said second embodiment of the binding;

Fig. 11 is an end view along the lines 11-11 of Fig. 10 of the heel plate;

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of the water ski similar to r the showing in Fig. 9, yet indicating a foundation plate on which the vamp and the counter are mounted; and

Fig. 13 is a top plan view of a heel plate showing a variation of the heel plate shown in Fig. 10.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to Figs. 1 to 3, it will be apparent that the ski 'board 1 has mounted on its top face either directly or on the top face of a foot plate or supporting member (not shown in Figs. 1 to 3), which in turn is secured to the ski board 1 merely by two screws or any other suitable securing means, a vamp 2 and a counter 3. It is to be understood that reference made hereafter to a mounting on a supporting member is to be construed as either a direct mounting on the ski board or a mounting on an intermediate supporting member, as shown in Fig. 12.

While the vamp 2 may comprise any conventional structure, in the present instance the vamp 2 isshown as consisting of a flexible, elastic rubber-like material 4 which is clamped at its side edges to the ski board 1 by means of clamping plates 4 disposed substantially in longitudinal direction along the side edges of the ski board 1.

The counter 3 consists of a flat, sheet-like or rubberlike material 6 which is likewise .clamped to the rear part of the binding in the following manner:

The rear part of the binding comprises a heel plate 7 which has fork-like front projections 8 and leads to a rear portion 9 which either may have a slow taper or which may be abruptly reduced as to its width to form parallel edges therein, though it is preferred to provide the slow tapered formation for reasons which will be set forth below. The fork-like projections 8 are equipped with longitudinally disposed slots 10 and the tapered rear portion 9 of the plate 7 is likewise equipped with a longitudinally disposed slot 11 of a length equal to that of the slot 10 of the fork-like projections 8. Two cover plates 12 are mounted on top of the fork-like portions 8 of the plate 7, which cover plates 12 are likewise equipped with longitudinally disposed slots 13 of the same length as that of the slots 10, 11 and registering with the slots 10. The cover plates 12 are mounted on the plate 7 in such a manner that the slots 13 coincide with the slots 10 of the heel plate 7 and the cover plates 12 are secured to the plate 7 by means of screws 14 or by any other suitable means. Before securing, however, the cover plates 12 to the heel plate 7, the counter material 6 is inserted therebetween, so that upon tightening of the screws 14, the cover plates 12 clamp the edge portions of the counter material 6 onto the top face of the fork-like portions 8 of the heel plate 7.

A screw bolt 15 extends through the supporting member, as for instance through the ski board 1, which screw bolt 15 projects through the slots 10 of the fork-like portions 8 of the heel plate 7 and then through the slots 13 of the cover plates 12. Yet the top head 15 of the screw bolt 15 is spaced apart from the plane defined by the top face of the cover plates 12 for such a distance to provide appreciably more than normal clearance, so as to allow not only a longitudinal movement of the entire heel plate 7 relative to the screw bolts 15, but permits in addition an appreciable lifting and flexing movement of the front portion of the heel plate 7, so that upon exertion of pressure on the counter 6 by the heel of the user of the ski the front portion and in addition the fork-like portions 8 will be lifted from the ski board 1, while due to this lifting movement the friction between the bottom face of the rear portion of the heel plate 7 and the top face of the ski board, as well as the friction between the top face of the rear portion of the heel plate 7 and the bottom face of the nut 17 will be increased, thereby contributing to a locking of the heel plate in any one of a plurality of adjusted positions on the ski board 1. It is to be understood that in case an intermediate supporting member is arranged between the ski board and the heel plate 7, the mentioned friction is obtained between the bottom face of the heel plate 7 and the top face of the intermediate supporting member. Due to the fact that normally the nut 17 will be tight on the screw bolt 16 extending through the rear slot 11 of the heel plate 7 the lifting and flexing of the front portion of the heel plate 7 will be performed upon the axis of the screw bolt 16 as a fulcrum.

As mentioned before, a screw bolt 16 extends also through the ski board 1 and through the longitudinal slot 11 of the tapered rear portion of the heel plate 7 The screw bolt 16 has a nut member 17 screwed thereon, which nut member 17 is of comparatively large diameter and preferably knurled on its circumference in order to provide an easy loosening for said knurled nut 17. It should be emphasized that merely the loosening of the nut 17 on the screw bolt 16 permits of longitudinal sliding movement of the plate 7 together with the counter material 6 and thus gives easy adjustment possibilities for the position of the heel plate 7 on the ski board, because the heads 15' do not operate as clamping means, since the head 15' is always spaced apart from the top face of the cover plates 12 for an appreciable distance, so that the heads 15 of the screw bolt 15 merely operate as guide means, engaging the inwardly disposed faces of the slots 10 of the fork-like portions 8 of the heel plate 7, so that a lateral movement of the heel plate 7 on the ski board is clearly and securely prevented.

While the screw bolt 15 is shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing as projecting beyond the bottom face of the ski board 1, it is possible to provide a sunken screw bolt 15a, as indicated in Fig. 6 of the drawing, similar to the screw bolt 16 indicated in Fig. 5 of the drawing, the arrangement shown in Fig. 6 having the advantage that the bolt does not protrude from the bottom face of the ski board 1.

Referring now to Figs. 8 to 13 of the drawings in which a second embodiment of the present invention is disclosed, it will be found that the ski board 1 carries mounted on its top face a vamp 2 and a counter 3'. The vamp 2' is made of a flexible, elastic, rubber-like member 4 which is clamped at its side edges to its foundation, as the ski board 1', by means of clamping plates 5 disposed substantially in longitudinal direction adjacent the side edges of the ski board 1'.

The counter 3" is made of a sheet-like or rubber-like member 6' which is likewise clamped to the supporting member, as to the ski board 1', in a manner to be described below. The rear portion of the binding comprises a heel plate 7 which has fork-like front portions 8', leading to a rear portion 9 which in accordance with the embodiment shown in Fig. 10 is tapered down in rearward direction and in accordance with the embodiment shown in Fig. 13 is abruptly narrowed down and leads to a narrow rear portion 9 which has parallel longitudinally disposed edges. The rear portion of the heel plate 7' is equipped with a longitudinally disposed slot 11'. A screw bolt 16' is inserted in the supporting member, as in the ski board 1, and projects in upward direction through the slot 11' of the rear portion 9' of the heel plate 7'. The screw bolt 16' has screwed thereon a nut member 17 of comparatively large diameter and preferably knurled on its circumference in order to provide an easy loosening of the nut 17. The heel plate 7 is made of flexible material, the same as defined in the first described embodiment, in order to permit a flexing and lifting movement of the front portion of the heel plate 7, bringing about the same increase of friction as described in connection with the first embodiment, said friction obtaining between the bottom face of the heel plate 7 and the top face of the foundation, as of the ski board 1'.

Due to the fact that a slight loosening of the nut 17 an easy adjustment of the heel plate 7' may be obtained in longitudinal direction of the ski board 1', it is quite apparent that an infinite or undefined number of such adjustment positions can be achieved safely and securely since the mentioned friction effect will retain the heel plate 7 in any one of the adjusted positions.

In order to prevent a lateral movement of the heel plate 7 screws 15 are inserted into the supporting member, as into the ski board 1', which screws 15 are disposed in such a manner that their shank engages the lateral outer edges of the fork-like front portions 8 of the heel plate 7. The head of the screws 15 is, however, raised for a distance from the top face of the heel plate 7 which distance is greater than the normal clearance for any longitudinal guide means and, preferably the clearance space between the bottom face of the head of the screws 15 and the top face of the heel plate 7' is about equal to the thickness of the heel plate 7'. It is to be understood, however, that this distance may be increased in accordance with particular requirements of a ski and in accordance with the flexibility of the material of the heelplate 7'.

Referring, now to Fig. 12 of the drawings it will be seen that the arrangement is identical with that shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings, with the exception that the heel plate 7 is not mounted directly on the ski board 1', rather an intermediate supporting member 1 is provided which carries thereon the heel plate 7 and the longitudinal clamping plates 5 in such a manner that the screw bolt 16 is inserted into the supporting member 1 instead of into the ski board 1' and the screws mounting the clamping plate 5' for the vamp 2' are also inserted into the supporting member 1 only. The supporting member 1 is merely secured to the ski board by two screws 18', so that upon loosening of the screws 18' the. supporting member 1 together with the entire binding mounted thereon may be removed from a particular ski board 1' and be merely secured to another ski board by tightening the screws 18' therein.

.It isv quite clear that the longitudinal guide means, namely thebolts 15 which permit longitudinal movement of the heel plate 7' as well as a flexing or lifting movement of its front portion is merely inserted in the supporting member 1 if the embodiment of Fig. 12 is applied.

In order to remove the heel plate 7' from its foundation, that is from the ski board 1' or the intermediate plate 1 the heel plate 9' is moved at first into its rearmost position, in which position the screws 15 still engage the lateral edges thereof. It is necessary to loosen the nut member 17 completely, whereupon the rear portion of the heel plate 7 may be lifted and its front portion slides out of the screws 15 due to the fact that their heads are spaced apart from the top face of the heel plate 7', so that complete removal of the latter is possible.

While I have disclosed two embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that these embodiments are given by example only and not in a limiting sense, the scope of the present invention being determined by the objects and the claims.

I claim:

1. A binding for water skis to be mounted on a supporting member, an elastic flexible vamp member, clamping means securing the lateral edges of said vamp member to said supporting member, a counter member, a heel plate having two fork-like front portions and a narrow rearwardly extending portion, means securing the lateral sides of said counter member to said heel plate, said narrow longitudinal and rearwardly extending portion of said heel plate having a longitudinal slot, a screw bolt extending through said supporting member and through said longitudinal slot of said rearward-1y extending portion of said heel plate, and a nut cooperating with said screw bolt for securing said heel plate to said supporting member in any one of an undefined number of longitudinally adjusted positions, and guide means disposed laterally at and above said fork-like front portions of said heel plate and coacting with guide faces provided on said fork-like front portions, said guide means being vertically spaced apart from the top face of said forklike from portions for a predetermined distance and said guide means being secured to said supporting member for longitudinal as well as for an appreciable lifting movement of said fork-like front portions from the top face of said supporting member, so that upon lifting said front portions of said heel plate the friction between the bottom face of the rear portion of said heel plate and the top face of said supporting member, as well as between the top face of said rear portion of said heel plate and-the bottom face of the head of said nut is increased.

2. A binding for water skis to be mounted on a supporting member, an elastic flexible vamp member, clamping means securing the lateral edges of said vamp member to said supporting member, a counter member, a heel plate having two fork-like front portions and a narrow rearwardly extending portion, means for securing the lateral sides of said counter member to said heel plate, said heel plate having a longitudinal slot, a first screw bolt extending through said supporting member and through said slotof said rearwardly extending, longitudinal portion of said heel plate and having a head, and a nut cooperating with said screw bolt for securing said heel plate to said supporting member in any one of an undefined number of longitudinally adjusted positions, and a second screw bolt secured to said supporting member and having a head with a bottom face and disposed laterally at each outer edge of said fork-like front portions of said heel plate and coacting with the lateral edges thereof, said bottom face of said head of said second screw bolts being vertically spaced apart from the top face of said fork-like front portions for a predetermined distance in order to permit an appreciable flexing movement of the front portion of said heel plate, so that upon lifting of said front portion of said heel plate, the friction between the bottom face of said rearwardly extending portion of said heel plate and the top face of said supporting member, as well as between the top face of said rearwardly extending portion of said heel plate and the bottom face of the head of said first screw bolt is increased.

3. In combination with a water ski board, a binding comprising an elastic flexible vamp member having side edges, clamping means securing the lateral edges of said vamp member to said board, a counter member and a heel plate having two fork-like front portions and a narrow rearwardly extending portion, said heel plate having a longitudinal slot in said narrow, longitudinal and rearwardly extending portion, a screw bolt extending through said board and through said slot of said rear portion and a nut cooperating with said screw bolt for securing said plate to said board in any one of an undefined number of longitudinally adjusted positions, and guide means disposed laterally of said fork-like front portions and spaced apart from the top face of the latter and secured directly to said board and coacting with guide faces provided on said fork-like front portions for longitudinal movement as well as for a slight lifting movement of said front portions relative to the top face of said board, so that upon lifting said front portions of said plate, the friction between the bottom face of said rear portion of said plate and the top face of said board, as well as between the top face of said rear portion of said plate and the bottom face of the head of said nut is increased.

4. In combination with a water ski, a binding comprising an elastic flexible vamp member and a pair of longitudinal side members secured to said water ski and clamping the lateral edges of said vamp member, and a counter member, and a plate having two substantially parallel fork-like front portions and a rearwardly extending tapered portion, said tapered portion having a longitudinal slot, a longitudinal cover plate disposed above and secured to each of said fork-like portions, said longitudinal cover plate clamping the side edges of said counter member to said plate, a screw bolt extending through said water ski and through said slot of the tapered portion of said plate and a nut cooperating with said screw bolt for securing said plate to said water ski in any one of an undefined number of longitudinally adjusted positions, and guide means disposed laterally of said fork-like front portions and spaced apart from the top face of the latter and secured directly to said ski and coacting with guide faces provided on said fork-like front portions for longitudinal movement as well as for a slight lifting movement of said fork-like portions together with said longitudinal cover plate from the top face of said water ski, so that upon lifting said forklike front portions of said plate the friction between the bottom face of said tapered portion of said plate and the top face of said Water ski, as well as between the top face of said tapered portion of said plate and the bottom face of said nut is increased.

5. In combination with a water ski, a binding comprising an elastic flexible vamp member and a pair of longitudinal side members secured to said water ski and clamping the lateral edges of said vamp member, and a counter member, and a plate having two substantially parallel fork-like front portions and a rearwardly extending tapered portion, each of said fork-like front portions and said rearwardly extending portion having a longitudinal slot, a longitudinal cover plate disposed above and secured to each of said fork-like front portions and having a longitudinal slot of the same length as that of said fork-like front portions, the slots of said fork-like front portions coinciding with the slots of said respective cover plates, said cover plates clamping the side edges of said counter member to said plate, a first screw bolt extending through said water ski and through said slot of the rearwardly extending portion of said plate and a nut received by said first screw bolt for securing said plate to said water ski in any predetermined position, and second screw bolts extending through said water ski and through the respective slots of said fork-like portions of said plate and of said cover plates, and a nut received by each of said second screw bolts, the head of said nut being spaced apart from the top face of said cover plates in order to permit a lifting movement of said forklike front portions of the plate from the top face of said water ski, thereby, increasing the friction between the bottom face of the rearwardly extending portion of said plate and the top face of said water ski, as well as between the top face of the rearwardly extending portion of said plate and the bottom face of said nut.

6. The binding, as set forth in claim 5, wherein the heads of said first and second screw bolts are sunk flush and non-rotatable in the bottom face of said water ski.

7. The binding, as set forth in claim 5, wherein said nut of said first screw bolt has a large outer diameter and is knurled at its outer face in order to permit manual operation thereof Without use of any tools.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,165,547 Hill July 11, 1939 2,327,783 Hains Aug. 24, 1943 2,382,149 Hartman Aug. 14, 1945 2,540,576 Goodue Feb. 6, 1951 2,664,578 Clinedinst Jan. 5, 1954 2,740,972 Taylor Apr. 10, 1956 

